Modeling Dietary Fiber Intakes in US Adults: Implications for Public Policy

Theresa A Nicklas,Deann J Liska,Nelson G Almeida,Carol E O’Neil,Victor L Fulgoni Iii

doi:10.4236/fns.2011.29126

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this study was to simulate the application of the dietary recommendations to increase dietary fiber (DF)-containing foods. Methods: This study used 24-hour dietary recalls from NHANES 2003-2006 to model the impact of different approaches of increasing DF with current dietary patterns of US adults 19 + years: 1) increased all DF-containing foods by 10, 25, 50, or 100%; 2) increased DF content of low DF grain products to a good (2.5 g/serving) or an excellent source level (5.0 g/serving); and 3) increased intake of whole grain foods to meet the recommendation of one-half of total grain. Results: Increasing DF-containing foods by 10, 25, 50, or 100% increased DF intake to 16.9, 18.9, 22.1, and 29.5 g/d, respectively with a concomitant increase in energy of 104, 260, 521, 1042 kcal/d, respectively. Adding 2.5 or 5.0 g/serving DF to low DF grain foods to result in DF intakes of 24.7 and 39.1 g/day, respectively without increased energy. Increasing consumption of whole grain foods increased DF intake to 25.3 g/day but with an additional 1266 kcal/d. Conclusions: Adding additional DF to existing grain-based foods may be a reasonable approach to getting more DF, without increased energy, in the American diet.

Highlights

Dietary fiber (DF) provides important health benefits for adults [1,2,3], including reducing the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) [4,5,6,7,8,9,10], type 2 diabetes [11,12], and metabolic syndrome [13], and maintaining a healthy body weight [14,15,16]
2.4% had DF intakes greater than the Adequate Intake (AI) and 13.6% had DF intakes greater than the DV
5.6% of adults had DF intakes greater than the AI and 2.6% had DF intakes greater than the DV (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Dietary fiber (DF) provides important health benefits for adults [1,2,3], including reducing the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) [4,5,6,7,8,9,10], type 2 diabetes [11,12], and metabolic syndrome [13], and maintaining a healthy body weight [14,15,16]. Professional and governmental organizations have issued guidelines or recommendations for intakes of DF based on the totality of the evidence, fiber’s protective role against CHD. MyPyramid was developed as a nutrition educational tool to implement the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) [19]. In the food patterns, recommended DF intakes range from 25 - 38 g/day for adults 19 years and older (depending on gender) [19]. Despite the many educational tools available to the consumer, Americans continue to have DF intakes well below the current recommendations. The usual daily intake of DF was only 14 g to 18 g for adults depending on gender [20]

Methods

Results

Conclusion